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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Internationals shake things up and hope that turns the tables

The Presidents Cup has often been viewed as a poor man’s Ryder and that’s mainly because unlike the Ryder cup, it hasn’t been much of a rivalry with the US taking the previous eight Presidents Cup competitions in fact four of those eight have been by more than five points or more. The closest the international side has come was a tie in 2003 that, although a memorable three hole tie-breaker between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els when both were at the top of their game, lead directly to a rules change so there must be a winner. Other than that it’s been more one-sided than an old Mike Tyson fight. But the Internationals hope to strike up the Rocky music and shock the world, and are setting the perfect stage to do just that. This year’s tournament will be played at Royal Melbourne, site of the afore mentioned tie and fabled best International squad ever and with five Aussies on this year’s squad it will be a decided home course advantage keeping in mind that unlike most glove patting golf events, it is customary at the Pres Cup to cheer for yours and boo at theirs. There will be some serious mojo in the air but rest assured it can cut both ways and if it looks like the outcome will be the same as usual mid-way through the competition, the noose will certainly tighten on the necks of the home side as they begin to anticipate the backlash that will soon follow in the papers. It won’t be Captain Colin that will be leading this ship despite being promoted to General after he and the European side escaped a late rally and held on to a 14 ½ - 13 ½ victory at the last Ryder Cup, instead it will be Greg Norman at the helm who wouldn’t mind erasing a few choke memories of his own. In addition to having the home town boy calling the shots there is the first round matchup where Tiger Woods will face Adam Scott (and obviously Steve Williams will be on the bag within whisper distance of Tiger) which could have been slated differently but rather was mutually altered to do the exact opposite. Yes, it will get the attention the competition definitely needs but also may be the shot to the side of the head that wakes Tiger up in time to find his game. It’s no secret Woods has had problems in the Ryder Cup but conversely he has owned the Presidents Cup compiling 18 wins, more than any competitor on either side, with a winning percentage of .620. In a tie-breaker, in a hostile environment, I would take those odds. So you got Cameron Indoor far East, local boy skipper, and a first round matchup worthy of WWA billing, now you just need one side to step up for the first time in over a decade to answer the call. It may not look good but that’s exactly what they said to Buster. Will this be Tiger's wake up call? Will the International Team parlay home course to their first victory in over a decade? Let us know here and in any of the quick links.